The Final, Halcyon Days

My last days in Angers were busy, but it was a good kind of busy.  I spent my time making memories, conscious at every moment that my time in France was drawing to a close.

I spent most of my time outside, since the weather was beautiful and Angers was at its best, full of flowers.

I usually caught a ride on the back of a friend's bicycle to the park...

Hanging out at the gazebo by the fontaine...

Or spending afternoons reading Iris Murdoch from the Bibliotheque Anglophone in the Jardin des Plantes.

There were so many lasts...

We had our last day of class, and my Langue class had a fête.  We all brought foods from our many different countries, and we played pictionary.  I brought chocolate chip cookies, my professor baked a quiche, and the Asian students brought a variety of Vietnamese candies, spring rolls, and noodles.

We had our last Tuesday lunch as a group:



We barbecued in the park, potluck style, for a last get-together.  Dishes included hamburgers, s'mores, probably ten different kinds of cookies, chicken-flavored potato chips, zucchini bread, and a whole roasted rabbit.

We went out for one last fancy meal.  I spent 50 euro, or about 70 dollars, on a salmon entrée, roasted lamb, cheese, wine, a chocolate platter, and coffee.  No worries, the money was reimbursed by our dear (yeah whatever) director.

We spent one last night on the chateau steps, during which a mob of drunken French people tried to talk to us.  Apparently they were in town for a conference...

Packing took forever, and I left my house early on a Saturday morning to board our bus to the airport, walking down the creaky staircase one final time.

Au revoir, Angers!  I will miss this town more and more as time goes by, and it already feels like I left half of myself behind.

The boulevards, the patisseries, the flowers, the Catho, the cafes, the parks and gardens, the cathedrale, the fountains, the chateau, the friends... It was a very different life, and now it's passed, like a dream.

Au revoir, Sundef 44!